March 2012

Back in 2009 and 2010, when David Barton was tapped as an "expert" to help the Texas State Board of Education rewrite the state's social studies standards, he claimed that he was not promoting any sort of agenda, but was simply dedicated to reintroducing into the curriculum ignored parts "of history that certainly should be presented."

Around the time this was all taking place, Barton appeared on some Rhode Island public access program where he said that his work on rewriting the Texas curriculum gave him tremendous optimism about the future of America because the textbooks written for Texas schools would be used all over the nation and influence the students over the next twenty to thirty years who will eventually be elected to public office:

Barton's involvement in rewriting the Texas standards provoked such an outcry that he now has to do all this sort of work in secret so that nobody knows just how or where he is reworking to inject this long term, right-wing political agenda into the nation's curriculum.

The latestconspiracytheory sweeping the tea party movement is the fear that Agenda 21, a United Nations program focusing on sustainable development, is surreptitiously destroying the American way of life. Tennessee House Republicans recently passed a resolution, sponsored by Rep. Kevin Brooks, condemning the plan, using almost identical language from a John Birch Society model bill. The Tennesseanreports:

Tennessee lawmakers passed a resolution Thursday condemning a United Nations environmental plan as a “destructive and insidious” effort to advance a communist agenda through the guise of community planning.

The state House of Representatives voted 72-23 in favor of House Joint Resolution 587, which denounces the nonbinding Agenda 21 plan adopted by a United Nations environmental conference two decades ago.

The plan called on members of the United Nations to adopt sustainable development principles to alleviate poverty and combat global warming. But the resolution approved by Tennessee lawmakers on Thursday depicts it as a plan for the “socialist/communist redistribution of wealth” through energy conservation policies, zoning restrictions and forced abortions.

“It reads well. It has nice words like sustainability and helping the poor,” said state Rep. Glen Casada, R-Franklin. “But what these people want to do is they want to cap the number of people this planet can have. … So ladies and gentlemen, if that doesn’t bother you, if those words don’t scare you, we’ve got to talk.”

…

Two other states, Georgia and New Hampshire, have considered anti-Agenda 21 measures this year. Brooks said the resolution had been promoted by the RNC.

But the measure matches up nearly word for word with a model posted on the website of the John Birch Society, a conservative group that Republicans have largely shunned since the 1960s, Turner said.

WHEREAS, the United Nations Agenda 21 is a comprehensive plan of extreme environmentalism, social engineering, and global political control that was initiated at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992; and

WHEREAS, the United Nations Agenda 21 is being covertly pushed into local communities throughout the United States of America through the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) through local “sustainable development” policies such as Smart Growth, Wildlands Project, Resilient Cities, Regional Visioning Projects, and other “Green” or “Alternative” projects; and

WHEREAS, this United Nations Agenda 21 plan of radical so-called “sustainable development” views the American way of life of private property ownership, single-family homes, private car ownership and individual travel choices, and privately owned farms all as destructive to the environment; and

WHEREAS, according to the United Nations Agenda 21 policy, social justice is described as the right and opportunity of all people to benefit equally from the resources afforded us by society and the environment which would be accomplished by socialist/communist redistribution of wealth; and

WHEREAS, according to the United Nations Agenda 21 policy, national sovereignty is deemed a social injustice; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE SENATE CONCURRING, that the General Assembly recognizes the destructive and insidious nature of United Nations Agenda 21 and hereby exposes to the public and public policymakers the dangerous intent of the plan.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that neither the U.S. government nor any state or local government is legally bound by the United Nations Agenda 21 treaty in that it has never been endorsed by the U.S. Senate.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the federal government and state and local governments across the country be well informed of the underlying harmful implications of implementation of United Nations Agenda 21 destructive strategies for “sustainable development,” and we hereby endorse rejection of its radical policies and rejection of any grant monies attached to it.

AN ACT relative to the United Nations Agenda 21 and the non-governmental organization International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives, also known as ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability.

WHEREAS, for the purposes of this act, a “political subdivision” means all state, county, incorporated city, unincorporated city, public local entity, public-private partnership, or any other public entity thereof; and

WHEREAS, the United Nations Agenda 21 is a comprehensive plan of extreme environmentalism, social engineering, and global political control that was initiated at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992; and

WHEREAS, neither the U.S. government nor any state or local government is legally bound by the United Nations Agenda 21 treaty in that it has never been ratified by the U.S. Senate; and

WHEREAS, the United Nations Agenda 21 is being covertly pushed into local communities throughout the United States of America through the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), now calling itself “Local Governments for Sustainability,” through local "sustainable development" policies, such as Smart Growth, Wildlands Project, Resilient Cities, Regional Visioning Projects, and other "Green" or "Alternative" projects; and

WHEREAS, this plan of radical so-called "sustainable development" views the American way of life of private property ownership, single-family homes, private car ownership and individual travel choices, and privately owned farms all as destructive to the environment; and

WHEREAS, according to the United Nations Agenda 21 policy, social justice is described as the right and opportunity of all people to benefit equally from the resources afforded by society and the environment which would be accomplished by a socialist/communist-style redistribution of wealth; and

WHEREAS, according to the United Nations Agenda 21 policy, national sovereignty is deemed a social injustice; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the state of ___________ and all political subdivisions are prohibited from implementing programs of, expending any sum of money for, being a member of, receiving funding from, contracting services from, or giving financial or other forms of aid to ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability, or any other organization promoting the implementation of the United Nations Agenda 21, sustainable development, or smart growth.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of this body recognize the destructive and insidious nature of the United Nations Agenda 21, endorse rejection of its radical policies and of any grant monies attached to it, and recommend exposing to the public and public policymakers across the country the dangerous intent of the plan.

Needless to say, the Religious Right is notpleased with GLAAD's new Commentator Accountability Project, as Peter LaBarbera specifically blames us for taking "quotations from pro-family leaders out of context to make them appear as 'hateful' as possible."

Scott Lively complains that "anyone who dares to stand up and speak the truth about homosexuality from a biblical perspective will suffer persecution."

Gary Bauer says "we’ve been warned — our worldview is under threat. As I frequently note, the culture war is real. And only one side will prevail."

Roy Moore says "it was not by the people" who removed him from this Alabama Supreme Court and "the people have now restored me."

Cindy Jacobs' United States Reformation Prayer Network declares that "the current presidential election is probably the most significant election of our nation"s history. Our nation stands in the valley of critical decisions concerning Israel, war in the middle east, same-sex marriage, legalized murder, socialist/communist governance, our natural resources, healthcare, and so much more that will determine whether or not we plummet in a downward spiral or stay the hand of the Lord's righteous judgments."

Finally, the Family Research Council targets Planned Parenthood in its latest prayer update: "Pray the states, one by one, will break free from Planned Parenthood. May the next President and Congress (House AND Senate), demolish the unholy yoke that has bound American federal taxpayers to the abortion holocaust and the criminal activities of the nation's largest abortion enterprise."

Rick Santorum’s campaign repeated the right-wing myth that the Obama administration refuses to prosecute “obscene” pornography. He announced his support of efforts by groups including the Family Research Council, Morality in Media, the American Family Association and Concerned Women for America to increase obscenity prosecutions, and lamented that the Justice Department “refused to enforce obscenity laws.”

For many decades, the American public has actively petitioned the United States Congress for laws prohibiting distribution of hard-core adult pornography.

Congress has responded. Current federal “obscenity” laws prohibit distribution of hardcore (obscene) pornography on the Internet, on cable/satellite TV, on hotel/motel TV, in retail shops and through the mail or by common carrier. Rick Santorum believes that federal obscenity laws should be vigorously enforced. “If elected President, I will appoint an Attorney General who will do so.”

The Obama Administration has turned a blind eye to those who wish to preserve our culture from the scourge of pornography and has refused to enforce obscenity laws. While the Obama Department of Justice seems to favor pornographers over children and families, that will change under a Santorum Administration.

I proudly support the efforts of the War on Illegal Pornography Coalition that has tirelessly fought to get federal obscenity laws enforced. That coalition is composed of 120 national, state, and local groups, including Morality in Media, Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, American Family Association, Cornerstone Family Council of New Hampshire, Pennsylvania Family Institute, Concerned Women for America, The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and a host of other groups. Together we will prevail.

However, the Department of Justice just this monthprosecuted an obscenity case in Los Angeles. Furthermore, the DOJ continuously prosecutes child pornography and exploitation cases. But for Santorum and his Religious Right allies, the evidence never seems to get in the way of their anti-Obama smears.

As expected, conservatives have not taken kindly to the new movie The Lorax, based on the Dr. Seuss book on how avarice can harm the environment. The Media Research Center warned it will turn children into “little eco-warriors” and Lou Dobbs of Fox News blasted the film for “trying to indoctrinate our children” by “demonizing the so-called 1% and espousing the virtue of green energy policies.” The conservative group Movieguide said that while there is no obscene language, violence, sex or nudity in The Lorax, it still “warrants strong caution” because of its “strong politically correct environmentalist content that’s also anti-capitalist.” Cal Beisner even said that the Environmental Protection Agency’s promotion of the film represents an unconstitutional “violation of the separation of church and state.”

The two agreed that The Lorax is indeed left-wing “propaganda” and believe conservatives should have not only a political but also a spiritual response. Zahn claimed that the entertainment industry has been “co-opted” by “truly evil forces” and “forces of darkness,” which leads to the production of films like The Lorax. He said that people need to reclaim the field of the arts from the evil forces and return it to its godly foundations.

Deace: Now you’ve seen the movie Lorax?

Zahn: Yes.

Deace: I haven’t seen it yet, it looks to me however like pure, liberal, environmental propaganda, is it?

Zahn: If you read the book you’ll recognize that right off the bat and the movie follows that theme word for word. Yes, it is anti-capitalist, it is ‘big business is bad, the hunt for money is bad, it destroys the trees and by all means someone must stand up for speak for the trees, will you too please’?

…

Deace: So Drew, why don’t we just take these tactics of the left that they use in pop culture, why don’t we just do the exact same thing to create good entertainment that does the same thing with our message that they do with there’s, why not just do that?

Zahn: You know what, I’m glad you gave me the chance to think about that over the commercial break because I’m going to reject the premise of your question altogether. Your question assumes that the left—or I’m going to say that truly evil forces in the world have created this and shouldn’t we co-opt it? I’m going to say no it’s the other way around. God created the arts, the creative spirit, and it is the forces of darkness that have co-opted it and what we need to do is take it back.

The Mississippi House passed a bill that would require doctors to detect fetal heartbeats, which in many cases would require a transvaginal ultrasound, on women seeking an abortion and without exceptions for survivors of rape or incest. An amendment that would ban men from having vasectomies failed to pass. The group Personhood Mississippi praised the bill’s passage, and said they will begin collecting signatures to put another personhood amendment on the ballot in 2013 despite its failure last November.

The bill appears to be based on Janet Porter’s Heartbeat Bill, which passed the Ohio State House and bans all abortions after a detectable heartbeat, that has been springing up in other states including Kansas and Nebraska.

During the debate over the legislation, a Republican lawmaker responded to claims that the medically-unnecessary procedure is “state-sanctioned rape” by arguing that women “allow ourselves to be vulnerable to a pregnancy”:

The Mississippi House approved a bill that would require women seeking abortions to acknowledge when unborn children have detectable heartbeats, in some cases necessitating invasive transvaginal ultrasounds.

There is no provision in the House Bill 1196 exempting women who have been victims of rape or incest from the transvaginal ultrasound.

James Robison had an important message for the viewers of his "Life Today" television program today: "now is the day of reckoning" and the time to "get out of the pig pen of rotten decisions" and turn this "prodigal nation" back to God .... and it starts with the next election!

Televangelist Pat Robertson, who famously referred to non-Christians as “termites,” on the 700 Club today likened people who aren’t Christians to a “virus.” Following a report on the growing Muslim population in Europe, Robertson said “the antibody to these false religions have been vibrant Christianity,” lamenting that “our elites have turned against the founding principles that gave us our freedom, why? Because they don’t want to be Christian.”

Robertson: It’s like a virus, if you have, we have, all of us have, antibodies in our system and if our system is healthy we can repel viruses, but once those antibodies breakdown then the viruses take over. The antibody to these false religions have been vibrant Christianity, it doesn’t exist any longer in Belgium, it doesn’t exist in Europe any longer.

Meeuwsen: It seems as though we are so busy enjoying the benefits and the blessings that God has given us that it’s like we’ve gone to sleep.

Robertson: We’ve not only gone to sleep, we’ve actively attacked it. We’ve attacked the founding principle of our civilization and no one can do that and survive, but that’s what happened. Our elites have turned against the founding principles that gave us our freedom. Why? Because they don’t want be Christian, they don’t want to acknowledge that they are sinners, they don’t want to come and say they need a Savior, that’s humbling, they want to be proud and in their pride they are going to lose everything.

After calling GLAAD a tool of the Devil, talk show host Kevin McCullough defended previous statements, listed by GLAAD’s Commentator Accountability Project, that gay couples “despise” marriage and are “seeking to destroy” it. McCullough said that they are indeed trying to “destroy” marriage, but took issue with GLAAD’s use of the term “gay,” because according to McCullough, “I don’t believe that you can be gay.” He said that being gay is a choice and warned that “homosexual behaviors can end up killing you” because “homosexual behaviors when acted upon in the teenage years greatly increases the likelihood if you’re male that you will try to commit suicide.” McCullough is correct in arguing that gay youth do have a higher risk of suicide, but seems to ignore the fact that anti-gay prejudice and bias in society plays a large role in why there is the higher suicide rate.

They also said that ‘Kevin once said that gay couples both despise marriage and are seeking to destroy it.’ How is that not true? If homosexuals who want to engage in homosexual behavior therefore sexually couple just like themselves, if they are wanting to change the definition of marriage then they are wanting to destroy what current marriage is, that’s just a factual statement that I made. They don’t like the fact that men and women complete one another. They don’t like the fact that that union is so perfect that it sometimes brings children out of it, they don’t like the fact that that is the ability of what a natural marriage relationship brings. So I said they “despise,” they do, “they don’t like normal marriage and they’re seeking to destroy it,” yeah, “by redefining it,” that’s what they are seeking to do, they are seeking to undo what it’s always been. Yeah, I said that, I still believe it. It’s still true.

…

I don’t believe that you can be gay. I believe that people engage in homosexual behavior, and I believe that homosexual behaviors can end up killing you, and I think that homosexual behaviors when acted upon in the teenage years greatly increases the likelihood if you’re male that you will try to commit suicide. But that’s what the data says, that’s not what the Kevin McCullough says, that’s what the studies show, that’s what the secular humanist studies indicate about homosexual behavior. I don’t—they are grossly misrepresenting me—they are saying that I said that being gay kills people, no, because I don’t believe that people are gay, I think they behave in homosexual ways but I don’t buy that ‘gay’ is a state of being, I think it’s a series of choices.